Current Affairs Quiz - April 2022

Notes:
The Union Cabinet has approved USD 808 million (₹6,062.45 crore) for a new scheme ‘Raising and Accelerating MSME Performance’ (RAMP).
The new scheme assisted by the World Bank is expected to commence in the financial year of 2022-23. It aims to improve access to market and credit of the MSMEs. It focuses on strengthening institutions and governance of the MSME programme, and support to market access and access to finance.

Notes:
Konkan Railway has recently completed 100 per cent electrification across the zone and it has set new benchmarks for sustainable development.
The Konkan Railway has completed the electrification work on its complete 741 km long route between Roha in Maharashtra and Thokur in Karnataka. The cost of this electrification project is Rs 1287 crore.

Notes:
SEBI Chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch launched the ‘Manthan’, a six-week long ideathon, in association with various institutions including BSE, NSE, NSDL, CDSL, KFintech, CAMS, LinkInTime and MCX.
It will facilitate the creation of a set of ideas and innovative solutions related to the securities market in India.

Notes:
Novaya Gazeta is Russia’s leading independent newspaper. Dmitry Muratov, the newspaper’s editor, shared the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize with Maria Ressa, from the Philippines. Muratov donated his Nobel medal to be auctioned off to raise funds for Ukrainian refugees.
The newspaper has suspended its operations after pressure from Russian authorities. Russian lawmakers passed a law earlier, threatening jail terms of up to 15 years for information deemed to be fake by Russian authorities.

Notes:
‘Global Collaboration Advanced Vaccinology Training’ meeting was recently held in Geneva. In the meeting, the need for a basic vaccinology training module for healthcare personnel across the world was discussed.
India was represented by Dr N.K. Arora, head of the Covid-19 working group in the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group (NTAGI). The Group makes vaccine recommendations on the basis of disease burden, efficacy and cost effectiveness.

Notes:
As per the ‘Hurun Richest Self-Made Women in the World 2022’, there are 124 self-made women billionaires in the world now, down 6 from last year.
Three Indian women – Falguni Nayar of Nykaa, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw of Biocon and Radha Vembu of Zoho feature in the latest Hurun list of women self-made billionaires. Falguni Nayar overtook long-time India’s number one woman billionaire Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw to become the richest self-made woman in India.

Notes:
HDFC Bank and HDFC Limited recently announced the merger of the two entities. HDFC Bank, India’s largest private sector bank by assets, has a market cap of Rs 8.35 trillion.
HDFC Limited, India’s largest housing finance company with Assets Under Management (AUM) worth Rs 5.26 trillion and a market cap of Rs 4.44 trillion will merge with HDFC Bank. The subsidiary or associates of HDFC Limited will also be transferred to HDFC Bank, after regulatory approvals.

Notes:
The Ministry of Civil Aviation has launched International Air Connectivity Scheme (IACS) scheme (International UDAN) to enhance air connectivity from certain States of the country with selected international destinations.
The State Government of Assam, Manipur and Tripura have identified routes connecting Guwahati, Imphal and Agartala with selected international destinations.

Notes:
Indian space tech start-up Pixxel successfully launched its first fully-fledged commercial satellite apparently called ‘Shakuntala’ or Pixxel TD-2.
The satellite was launched with Elon Musk-run SpaceX’s Falcon-9 rocket aboard SpaceX’s Transporter-4 mission from Cape Canaveral in the United States. The satellite hosts one of the highest resolution hyper-spectral commercial cameras.

Notes:
Gangaur Festival is predominantly celebrated in the state of Rajasthan. Rajasthan Tourism Department organised the festival after two years gap due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The festival commenced on April 3 and continues for 18 days. The Tourism Department of the state has made special arrangements to make the foreign tourists aware of the culture of the state.